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Modern Orthodox Judaism

A Documentary History

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS

Engaging Reform

Introduction

On November 21, 1824, a group of disenchanted Jews submitted a petition to the trustees of Congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston. The young, sizable cohort — forty-seven men signed the "memorial" — requested a truncated Sabbath and Hebrew-free worship. The letter reflected concurrent sentiments in Europe, but was unprecedented in American Jewish life from the time Jews first moved to the New World in 1654. The trustees refused, explaining that their bid was out of line and in breach of the congregation's sacred constitution. Turned down, the "handful" of petitioners established the Reformed Society of Israelites. Led by playwright and journalist Isaac Harby (1788–1828), the Charleston circle drafted bylaws that vowed to uphold the Law and the Prophets and the Five Books of Moses but made no mention of the Talmud or any other Jewish sacred texts. In 1825, on the first anniversary of the group's petition to the Charleston congregation, Harby made it clear that his friends embraced the "true legitimate authority of the Bible," but he also pledged to "throw away Rabbinical interpolations" of Judaism. He compared his reformist efforts to Martin Luther (1483–1546), who "shook the papal supremacy to its foundation." This, then, was the first organized Reform-styled Judaism in the United States.

Opposition followed. Jacob Mordecai (1762–1838) of Richmond, Virginia, penned a lengthy response to Harby's widely disseminated discourse. He accused the Charleston reformers of besieging the "fortress of Judaism" with their "banner of skepticism." In New York, traditional Jews happily received Mordecai's remarks in the hope that it might "steady the minds of the wavering amongst us." In addition, Mordecai Noah (1785–1851) slammed the Charleston circle for their work to "retrograde" American Judaism. Perhaps the leading Jew in the United States at this time, Noah's opinion mattered, although he did not — nor could he, in all probability — refute the heterodox planks of the Reformed Society as Mordecai had tried to do in his discourse. Instead, Noah resorted to political jargon replete with rhetorical flare that had so well suited other American writers.

Neither Mordecai nor Noah stymied the reformers' labors. Something else did. In 1828 Harby moved from Charleston to New York. To be sure, the economic decline of Charleston had much to do with the religious drain. Yet Harby's departure deflated the society far more than his antagonists' attacks. Still, Charleston remained the cradle of American Reform Judaism. In the 1840s, a number of the Reformed Society's leading men helped push Beth Elohim in this direction. Led by its minister, Gustavus Poznanski (1804–79), the congregation rid itself of a number of rabbinic dicta. Most notably, the Charleston clergyman removed the second festival day from the major Jewish holidays and installed an organ in the synagogue's sanctuary. Once again, a number of self- appointed defenders of Orthodox Judaism denounced the new wave of Charleston reformers. These efforts slowed the tide of reform, but could not block it altogether.

Moving forward, protectors of traditional Judaism engaged reform, but not always under the banner of Orthodox Judaism. In 1845 Isaac Leeser (1806–68) of Philadelphia was unconvinced that he needed to identify squarely with an "orthodox party in Judaism." In time, Leeser accepted this designation but not until the lines between him and Reform ministers solidified. The fluid barriers of affiliation bothered a number of the staunchly Orthodox Jews in America. The other critical matter in this period was the varieties of Orthodox religious life. In fact, an affiliation with an Orthodox enclave was not a predictor of adherence to Jewish law. Desperate to provide for their families — or to earn enough to pay for their voyages to the New World — Jewish men believed that they had no choice but to labor on the holy day. Some of their more fortunate coreligionists attended synagogue on the Sabbath, but flouted Halakhah in a different manner: they married non-Jews. In many instances, intermarried Jews would have claimed that their exogamous lifestyle was due to love or social status and had no bearing on their beliefs in Judaism. Perhaps more than matters of Jewish belief, these everyday problems were the most vexing that these Orthodox Jews faced in the United States.

Section 1

Charleston Clamorings and Other "Heresies"

"Retrograde Instead of Advancing"

Mordecai Noah | October 18, 1825

Mordecai Manuel Noah was a politician, newspaper editor, and communal leader. In his lifetime, he served as consul to Tunis and chairman of the John Tyler Central Committee and Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall. Noah was a leading member of New York's Shearith Israel congregation and delivered the keynote discourse at the congregation's synagogue consecration ceremony in 1818. He also led a number of Jewish charitable organizations. In this editorial, Noah responded to a question he had received about an upstart Reform movement in Charleston, South Carolina.

A weekly religious journal printed in this neighborhood lately stated that a schism had taken place among the Jews in Charleston, S.C., one portion of which had determined to relinquish the Hebrew language and adopt entire new forms. The journal alluded to expresses an opinion that it is intended to lead to a conversion from their ancient faith. To do away [with] such an impression, and to protect the fidelity of the pious, it is proper to state, that the reform contemplated, originated with a few persons, descended from Jewish parents, but who are unacquainted with the essential forms of the religion.

One of the new-lights is now employing himself in attempting to ridicule any effort to make the U. States an asylum for his oppressed and unfortunate brethren; and in this work he is seconded by the Editors of the National Gazette and the American, who have never, we believe, felt disposed to aid any nation of the old world in enjoying the freedom and benefits of the new.

If the works of charity and patriotism; if duty and inclination, could be checked by the sneers and ridicule of such men, we should retrograde instead of advancing, and those who were enemies to their country in time of war cannot wish to strengthen that country in time of peace.

New Lights and Old Lights

A Member of the Reformed Society of Israelites | October 28, 1825

The Charleston reformers responded to Mordecai Noah's unfavorable view of their operation. Historian Gary Zola suggested that the writer was probably David Nunes Carvalho (1784–1860) or Isaac Nunes Cardozo (1786–1855), both members of the Reformed Society of Israelites.

Mr. Editor. — I perceive that the essay, signed "Common Sense," which appeared in your paper a few weeks past on Mr. Noah's ridiculous proceedings at Grand Island, has excited the anger of that gentleman. He has given way to some intemperate remarks in his Journal, on its being published in some of the leading papers at the north, with compliments on the beauties of the composition — on the discrimination and good taste it evinced — and its being one of the best communications on the subject of which it treats, that has been yet published. Mr. Noah, without attempting to overturn any of the positions in "Common Sense," sneers at the production, and attempts to ridicule it, because, forsooth, the author is what he calls one of the "new lights" — that is one of the large and respectable number of Israelites, who are only aiming at a few reforms in the present mode of worship in this city; whose chief object is to have a part of the service said in English (the Hebrew language being almost obsolete as a vehicle of communication, and but little understood) so that all may understand what is said and be able to appreciate it accordingly. They never did and never will attempt, as it is said by Mr. Noah, to strike at the fundamental principles of their faith; they consider them as of too ancient and sacred a character to be meddled with. The Editor of the Advocate may rest assured that all such paltry attempts to parry the successful blows that are aimed at his foolish plans and productions are totally unavailing — they show the scantiness of his material and display his impotence. It is of no avail, we assure him, to show his anger, because his title as Governor and Judge of Israel will not be acknowledged: It is of no use when he cannot rebut argument by argument, to call names — such conduct is splenetic and boyish. Before we part, however, we would whisper a wholesome truth in Mr. Noah's ear. He should know that public opinion has some virtue in it, and is of great force and influence in all countries and on all occasions: — when, therefore, Mr. Noah persists in standing on such a slender foundation as his own talents and influence (Heaven save the mark) in spite of the very general terms of reprobation and ridicule his late conduct has met throughout the country, he must expect to be overturned, as often as the ground on which he stands is weak and untenable.

This Happy Land

Isaac Harby | November 21, 1825

Isaac Harby was an educator, journalist, and playwright. The extent of his Jewish education is unclear, although he did possess a number of volumes of Judaica in his library. In 1825 he joined with other disenchanted Charleston Jews to found the Reformed Society of Israelites. Harby may not have been the architect of the movement, but due to his fame in the non-Jewish world, he quickly emerged as the spokesman of the group. He delivered a discourse on the first anniversary of the Reformed Society. The published edition of his talk, of which the first pages are reproduced here, circulated among Jews and very prominent non-Jews such as Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) and John C. Calhoun (1782–1850). Elsewhere in his remarks, Harby blasted "Rabbinical interpolations." In his opening comments, though, he made it clear that his vision was to fit Judaism into the wider realm of American religion.

It is almost superfluous to inform you, my respected friends, of the purpose for which you are this day assembled. It is to celebrate the first Anniversary of a Society, whose existence — whose name alone — forms an era in the history of your race, gratifying to every Philanthropist. The great cause of Improvement in Government, in Religion, in Morals, in Literature, is the great cause of mankind. Bigotry and Despotism may rear their "miscreated fronts" to thwart your way, but the consuming beams of Truth must drive them back to their original darkness. In this happy land, however, you have no such obstacles to oppose; — equality of laws and freedom of conscience leave you a wide and cheerful field to act upon. You have no enemies then, but the inveteracy of habit, and the timidity of ignorance. Against these you have already struck a noble blow; be true to yourselves and the victory is your's. The man who meanly crouches to mental oppression is an object to be pitied by the good, contemned by the courageous; but he that nobly breaks the intellectual chain, and stands forth the champion of Reason and of Virtue, is a being honorable to the earth from which he sprung, and approved of by that heaven to which he aspires.

In the short revolution of a single year, what a spectacle does your Society present! You began your career with only a handful of men; some of them not yet determined how far their fears or their wishes might carry them. Your opponents falsely prophecied that this "handful" would soon melt away, and the "Reformed Society of Israelites" dissolve into air. But the spirit of the constant among you has been diffused throughout the whole mass, and you can now enumerate a respectable number, — trifling indeed for the purpose of moving mere "brute matter" — but one of immense moral force in the cause in which we are embarked. The pen of Luther was the great intellectual lever which shook the papal supremacy to its foundation, — why may not the virtuous example of a few Israelites, then, shake off the bigotry of ages from their countrymen? — Your principles are rapidly pervading the whole mass of Hebrews throughout the United States. The progress of truth, however slow, is irresistible; and I should not wonder if the principles I speak of were to settle permanently among the Jews of Europe, even before the despotic governments of that portion of the globe extended to our countrymen the political privileges of their other subjects.

But the consideration of what may be effected abroad is but of minor importance to the great and practical objects we have in view. Our sphere of action is at present limited to home. It is in Charleston, and — in its more immediate consequences — in the United States, that we are to look for the experimental development of our system. What is it we seek? The establishment of a New Sect? No; never. Let other systems of religion split into a thousand schisms; let other modes of faith present to your eyes the motley scene at which Philosophy may smile, and true Piety must weep — brethren instructed in a religion of mercy warring against each other by the arm of flesh and the weapons of theological pride. Let these examples of human error be seen in other religions — but it is the glory and test of the Jewish faith that its followers worship one God — that when they raise their hands to veil their eyes, and repeat — "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One" (Deut. 6:4) — they regard only the God of their Fathers, the Lord of all creation, the Supreme Jehovah. This be your boast, this be your bond of union.

A Jewish Luther

Jacob Mordecai | 1826

One of the more learned Jews in early nineteenth-century America, Jacob Mordecai was an educator and communal leader in Virginia. Mordecai became well known for his polemics against Christian missionaries. He also prepared a handwritten twenty-five-page response to Isaac Harby's anniversary discourse delivered before the Reformed Society of Israelites in Charleston in 1825, copies of which reached Jews throughout America. Much of Mordecai's remarks consisted of detailed expositions of the Bible. This excerpt includes the first volley of Mordecai's attack on Harby, in which the author offers more general comments on Harby's "reform" program.

We have read the discourse delivered by Mr. Harby to an assemblage of persons calling themselves the Reformed Society of Israelites in Charleston transmitted to us by a member of that body. It was our first intention to let it pass unnoticed — but on further reflection the bold and unhesitating manner of the author seems to defy any explanation on the part of the congregationalists; we will nevertheless presume to examine the principles he advocated and test their solidity and their orthodoxy by the translations of Holy writ. The matter contained in the first pages of the address is a repetition of the remonstrances to the Junta, tho it is not everywhere in unison with it — this part of the subject has been already noticed in communications to the corresponding Society. The impression we received in sending that remonstrance has been fully confirmed by the recent address, that the object of the master spirit was to destroy the ancient fabrick of Israelite worship and to gradually undermine all confidence in their religion under the pretext of divesting it of Rabbinical impurities and interpretations; the Seal of this gentleman (who presents himself to notice in the character of the reformer) is to us a little paradoxical, for if we are rightly informed he has not been a member of the Jewish congregation for the last Ten Years or subjected himself to any inconvenience by conforming to either the Mosaic or Rabbinical laws. We fear he knows too little of the customs, their origin, force or value &/or that little is indebted to Hebrew writers.

We shall continue to remark on some parts presented to our view in a style rather too familiar for the subject, and combining topicks totally irrelevant to it. Like Luther, he is desirous of being a pioneer whose pious zeal is to clear the paths and deliver his countrymen from the bigotry of ages. We are however disposed to doubt the affinity of their respective cases, as well as the correctness of the assertion that "the pen of Luther was the great intellectual lever which shook the papal supremacy to [its] foundation." Were we disposed to contest this position we have ample means at hand to prove the reformation cannot be solely credited to Luther, others had preceded him without success, but many power causes contributed at that precise period to promote a change — a combination not likely to occur in favour of the present champion of Jewish reform. We refer those inclined to pursue this unpromising subject to [Abraham] Ruchat's history of the reformation, to Homer, and to other historians. We have no wish to examine a controversy which led to blow and slaughter, to the fire and the stakes, to every degree of atrocious persecution and spiritual intolerance — we take no interest in the variant faith of the hundreds of sects to which that reformation has given birth. They should serve however as lessons to our brethren and teach them to avoid the shoals and quicksands upon which others have been wrecked.

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Excerpted from Modern Orthodox Judaism by Zev Eleff. Copyright © 2016 Zev Eleff. Excerpted by permission of UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA PRESS.
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